Air-heating appliance



Jan. 1, 1952 B. C. WATTS, JR

AIR HEATING APPLIANCE Filed May 3, 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTORTBLAINE CL V05 WATTS, JR.

, ATTORNE).

J an. 1, 1952 B. c. WATTS, JR 2,580,492 AIR HEATING APPLIANCE Filed May3. 1948 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 fig? . INVENTORY BLAINE CLYDE WATTS} JR.

ATTORNEK Patented Jan. 1, 1952 AIR-HEATING APPLIANCE Blaine. ClydeWatts, Jr., Petaluma, Calit .,asslgnor to Kresky Mf g. (30., Inc.,Petaluma, Calif., a

corporationof California Application May 3, 1948, Serial No. 24,820

d Claims. (Cl. 126-110) 'lhislinvention relates to heater appliances andmore particularly to an improved heater appliance inthe nature of afloor furnace or space. heater. A principal difficulty in themanufacture and installation of floor furnaces, particularly of thetypeadapted to circulate heated air from both sides of a building wall,resides in the difficulty of maintaining the top panel of the furnacehousing coolespecially that part of the housing in contact with the wallin which the furnace is positioned. Inasmuch as the heated air travelsupwardly within the furnace housing toward the top thereof the problemof: cooling the top satisfactorily and practically has gone longunsolved.

An object of the present invention is to provide means in a heaterappliance to cool parts of the housing thereof by drawing in cold air,by means of a circulationinducing mechanism, below the top of r thehousing and above the warm air outlet of said furnace. s -It is afurther object of the present invention to .cool the top panel of afloor furnace with cold air. A further object of the present inventionis to maintainthe top panel of a floor furnace cool by-means ofchanneling cold air thereunder and which said stream of cold air issubsequently discharged from the furnace as heated air. Thus -i;hecoldair utilized to cool the'top panel of the floor-furnace is'preheatedprior to contact with the heating elements of the furnace unit.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a heaterappliance of the character .panel ofsaid furnace .is maintained in acool condition during'operation of the furnace.

- A furtherobject of-the present invention is to provide an improvedfloor furnace wherein hazard from fire caused by overheating ofparts ofsaid furnace is effectively Further objects and advantages of theinvention will become apparent upon referring to the accompanyingdrawings and specification in which similar characters of referencerepresent corresponding parts-in -the several views.

Fig. l is a perspective view of a dual outlet type iioor furnace withportions thereof broken away.

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of a dual outlet floor furnaceinstalled in a building wall and showing the building floor and buildingwall in section.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings the floor furnace comprises an outercasing or housing 2 enclosing a burner unit (not shown). The type ofburner unit generally utilized is of the forced draft type and a part ofthe burner construction is indicated at 3. The floor furnace illustratedherein is of the character adapted to be installed in a building walland wherein heated air is emitted therefrom on both sides of the wall.

Fig. 2 illustrates an installation of the present type burner andwherein the outer casing 2 is illustrated as below the building floorindicated at 4 and 5 while the wall is illustrated at 6. A furnace'headgenerally indicated at I is positionedabove the furnace outer casing 2.Warm air outlets are provided in opposite sides of the head Ilongitudinally thereof and are preferably provided with louvers 8.Disposed within the head I is an inner head or shell, generallyindicated at H), provided with imperforate end portions 9 spacedinwardly from the ends H of the furnace head I. The shell is providedwith an imperforate substantially trough shaped top member [2 spacedbelow the imperforate top panel I3 of the furnace head in order to forma cold air passageway or duct between said member 12 and said panel l3.Each end ll of the head I isprovided with a plurality of spaced cold airinlet apertures I4 arranged on each side thereof to enable communicationfrom atmosphere to said cold air duct. When the furnace is installed ina wall the apertures M are positioned on opposite sides of. the wall asindicated clearlyin Fig. 2. The cut-out portion of the wall 6 ln'whichthe furnace is dlsposedlies over and in contact with the top panel l3,and the ends of the head and the apertures l4 are arranged on oppositesides of said wall.

The casing 2 is partitioned vertically as at 20 to form a cold air inletflue 15 at one end of the said casing. Usually the end of the casing inwhich the air inlet flue is positioned is opposite the burner unit 3 andblower 3 A circulation inducting mechanism indicated as a power fan H5is disposednear the bottom of the casing 2 in made possible by thepresent invention. noted that the cold air duct formed by the imcold airinlet fiu-e 15 in registry with an aperture I! in communication with thespace surrounding air heating elements l8 and !9 adjacent the bottomsthereof, and which said elements are heated by a burner unit (not shown)by conveying the hot gases of combustion from the burner unittherethrough to a chimney outlet attachment flange 3|. Air enteringthrough aperture l! is heated by contact with elements i8 and I9 and isthen discharged from the head 7 through the warm air outlets. A verticalpartition 21 is provided in the head between an end 9 of the inner headand the adjacent end H of the outer head 1 above the circulationinducing fan 16. The vertical partition 2|, disposed between louvers 8,serves to direct air enteringrounding said air heating element, warm airoutlets in the side walls of said outer head, an inner head comprising atop and end walls positioned within the outer head and spaced inwardlytherefrom to form a cold air duct between the tops of said inner andouter heads, and spaced apertures in an end wall of said outer head incommunication with atmosphere and one end of said cold-air duct, saidcold air duct at its other end being in flow communication with theupper .end of said cold air inlet flue.

2. A heating appliance comprising an outer casing, a head comprisingtop, side and'end walls disposed over said casing and in nowcommuthrough louvers 8 downwardly toward fan l6 for circulation.

Cold air is drawn into the furnace unit through apertures l4 disposed atopposite ends of the head, and cold air enteringfrom the-end of thefurnace farthest removed from .the fan I6 is conducted through the ductformed by top panel l3 and member [2 to thus cool and maintain cold saidtop panel [3 which would otherwise be heated directly by contact withthe heated air rising from contactwith the heating elements 3 and IQ fordischarge through the Warm air outlets provided in said furnace head. Itmight here be further noted that the spaces between the ends 9 and theends II are filled with cold air entermg through apertures l4, and thusthe endsof said head I are maintained in a cool condition duringoperation of the floor furnace. Careful experiment has indicated thatwithout the provision of the cooling duct formed by member i2 and panelIS the temperature of the panel 13, formed of metal, during, operationof the furnace approximates 90 F, above room temperature, Whereas whenthe same furnace is equipped with the cooling duct, as herein described,the temperature of said top panel approximates only F. above roomtemperature.

Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate by means of arrows A the flow of cold airthrough the cold air duct and into the cold air inlet flue of thefurnace while arrows B indicate the flow of hot air and serve toillustrate the desired C001il'1g function It is perforate ends 9, ends II and members l2 and I3 is not in flow communication with the heated airarising fromcontact with the heater elements in the furnace casing.

While the invention has been described in spevention within the spiritof, the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a heating appliance, an outer casing, an outer head comprisingtop, side and end walls disposed oversaid casing and in flowcommunication therewith through the bottom thereof and adapted toproject from a floor into a cut-out portion of a building wall to exposethe side walls of the head on opposite sides of the building walls, anair heating element in said casing and means to heat said element saidelementbeing disposed below-the bottom of said outer head, meansforming'a vertical cold air inlet fiuein and adjacent to one end saidcasing and in commumcation at its lower end with the space surbelow thebottom of said head, means forming a vertically disposed cold air inletflue in said casing in communication adjacent to its lower end with thespace surrounding said air heating element, a warm air outlet in a sidewall of said head, a member comprising a top and end walls positionedwithin said head and spaced therefrom to form a cold air duct betweenthe tops of said member and said head, and apertures in an end wall ofsaid head in communication with atmosphere and said cold air duct, saidcold air duct being in flow communication with the upper end of saidcold air inlet flue at a point substantially removed from said aperturesin said head.

3. A heating appliance comprisingvan outer casing, an outer headcomprising top, side and end walls disposed over said casingand in flowcommunication therewith,v enclosed air heating elements in said casingand means to heat said elements, said elements being disposed below thebottom of said outer head, means forming a vertically disposed cold airinlet flue in said casing adjacent to one end thereof and in flowcommunication at its lower end with the space surrounding said airheating elements, means to induce circulation of cold air from said coldair inlet flue toward said air heating elements, a warm air outlet inthe side walls of said outer head, an inner head comprising a top andend walls positioned within said outer .head and spaced inwardlytherefrom to form a horizontally disposed cold air duct between the topsof said inner and outer heads, and apertures in the end .walls of saidouter head in communication with atmosphere and said cold air duct, oneend of said cold air duct being in flow communication with the upper endof said cold air inlet flue. 4. A heating appliance comprising anelongated outer casing, a head comprising top, side and end wallsdisposed over said casing and in flow communication therewith, an airheating element in said casing and means to heat said element, saidelement being disposed below the bottom of said head, means forming avertically disposed cold air inlet'flue in said casing at one ,endthereof and inflow communication at its lower end with the spacesurrounding said air heating element, means to induce circulation ofcold air from said cold air inlet flue toward said air heating element,a member comprising a top and end walls positioned in said head andspaced inwardly therefrom to form a horizontally disposed cold air ductbetween said tops of said member and said head and longitudinally ofsaid head, and an aperture in the end wall of said head farthest removedfrom said cold air inlet flue in communication with atmosphere and oneend of said cold air duct, the other end of said cold air duct being inflow communication with the upper end of said cold air inlet flue.

5. A heating appliance comprising an outer casing, an outer headcomprising top, side and end walls disposed over said casing and in flowcommunication therewith through the bottom thereof, an air heatingelement in said casing and means to heat said element, said elementbeing disposed below the bottom of said outer head, means forming avertically disposed cold air inlet flue in one end of said casing andextending substantially from top to bottom thereof and in flowcommunication at its lower end with the space surrounding said airheating element, means in said cold air inlet flue to induce circulationof cold air therefrom toward said air heating element, warm air outletsprovided in opposite side walls of said outer head, a member comprisinga top and end walls positioned in said outer head and spaced inwardlytherefrom to form a cold air duct between said tops of said member andsaid head, the top of said member being disposed above said warm airoutlets, and,

spaced apertures in the end wall of said head farthest removed from saidcold air inlet flue, said apertures being in communication withatmosphere and one end of said cold air duct, the other end of said coldair duct being in flow communication With the upper end of said cold airinlet flue.

6. A heating appliance comprising an elongated outer casing, anelongated outer head comprising top, side and end walls disposed oversaid casing and in flow communication therewith, an air heating elementin said casing and means to heat said element. said element beingdisposed below said outer head, said casing having a vertical partitionarranged to form a vertically disposed cold air inlet flue in one end ofsaid casing and an aperture in said partition adjacent to the bottomthereof to enable flow communication from said flue to the spacesurrounding said air heating element, means in said cold air inlet flueto induce circulation of cold air therefrom toward the bottom of saidair heating element, warm air outlets provided in said outer head onopposite sides thereof, an inner head comprising a top and end wallspositioned in said outer head and extending substantially from end toend thereof and spaced inwardly therefrom to form a horizontallydisposed cold air duct therebetween, and spaced apertures in the endWall of said outer head farthest removed from said cold air inlet flue,said apertures being in communication with atmosphere and one end ofsaid cold air duct, the other end of said cold air duct being in flowcommunication with the upper end of said cold :air inlet flue wherebycold air entering through said spaced apertures is conveyed through saidcold air duct to said flue and thence for contact with said air heatingelement.

BLAINE CLYDE WATTS, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 497,345 Rogers May 116, 18932,055,926 Fraser Sept. 29, 1936 2,430,393 Elmore et a1 Nov. 4, 1947

